fresnel149:
mallninjacode:
basedheisenberg:
bootyregrit:
USA! USA!
Since I doubt anyone who re-blogged this actually did their homework, as usual, Depleted Uranium may sound scary but in order for it to cause this kind of widespread shit, we would’ve had had to blanket every square inch of the country with cluster munitions several times over. It’s a heavy metal, but it’s used primarily as a penetrative device in anti-tank rounds and certain types of smart bombs.
This is more than likely the result of left over chemical stockpiles spilling out during the bombing of Iraq and contaminating the ground water. Similar health issues were cited in Iraq after Saddam used Sarin gas on the Kurdish people in 1991 following Desert Storm. We’ve dropped a lot of munition in Iraq, but most of it didn’t use DU. Furthermore, I don’t see any scientific data directly linking these defects to anything specific- it’s mostly just conjecture and people wanting to shit talk the US.
Pfft, like anyone has time to fact check these days.
“We’re reporting widespread cannibalism!”
“Wow, are people actually eating people?”
“I don’t know, but we’re reporting it!”
If you’re honestly saying that DU has no effect, I suggest you look a bit deeper into the subject.
What about the widespread Gulf War Syndrome? Or how there is a disturbing number of veterans who are having children with the same sort of deformaties and problems as described in Fallujah?
While DU probably doesn’t have an effect in the classical radioactive sense, DU is problematic because it spalls into tiny fragments and fine powder upon impact. The inhalation and ingestion of which is extremely dangerous, as you do not have your skin to protect you. Super dense particles are just lodged in your lungs and soft tissue. Even without factoring in radioactivity in, that’s the sort of thing that causes cancer.
The teams that were sent in to clean up DU after the 1st Gulf War have absolutely horrendous attrition rates, the vast majority of them are either dead or sick with neurological problems, cancer, and other severe ailments.
Why do you think so much effort went into cleaning up Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo after their respective wars? They roped off entire areas there, some of which have only become open in recent years.
Also, it’s highly erroneous to say that DU wasn’t in high use. DU is used in many different weapon platforms. Any air munition designated as a bunker buster most likely has a DU penetrator head. The main gun rounds for the Abrams use a DU penetrator, the Abrams has DU plates built into its armor as well (some Abrams were indeed destroyed). The 30mm GAU-8 off of the A-10 Thunderbolt uses DU. Also, the 25mm Bushmasters off of Bradleys and LAVs use DU, as well the 20mm gatling on the SuperCobra. The US officially manufactures DU in 120mm, 105mm, 30mm, 25mm, and 20mm variants. Grenades in the 90’s were manufactured with DU.
DU use is everywhere. That’s because it is so versatile. Its a penetrator, yes, but upon impact, it fragments into incendiary particles - it’s pyrophoric, which means it ignites upon contact with oxygen. That means you can hit a building with a DU round, and you’ll cause incendiary and shrapnel casualties both inside and outside the building. It’s also highly demoralizing for the enemy, as all incendiary weapons are.
Come on, it’s a very good thing to consider other sources, but to completely handwave DU as non-threatening is just plain stupid. It’s banned for a reason.
That is exactly why I always found pictures of kids playing in/around bombed out tanks so disturbing. And we’re not the only ones to use DU. The Russians and other countries of the former Soviet Union have been using it since before the Soviet-Afghan War, just to name one other example.
![tastefullyoffensive:
Command’r Crunch* [via]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/b96085a5db0e3495e8eebb2946c376a6/tumblr_mod0jfjAAJ1qewacoo1_500.jpg)
